25,000 cases pending, Armed Forces Tribunal slaps contempt notice on Defence Secretary

Observing that more than 25,000 cases are pending before it, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), has issued notice for contempt to the Defence Secretary and other senior officers in Army Headquarters and the Defence Accounts Department for non-compliance of judicial orders.

The AFT’s Principal Bench, in its order earlier this month, has also sought to make the Defence Secretary and Chief of the Army Staff aware of the manner in which officials are dealing with the cases before the Tribunal, thus resulting in high pendency.

In a connected matter concerning the sane case, the Delhi High Court has said that the AFT should proceed with the proceedings as per law, after the same petitioner had approached it on being dissatisfied with the orders not being executed.

In September 2022, the Tribunal had granted disability pension to a retired Colonel after holding that his medical condition was a result to service in high altitude area. The directions of the Tribunal, however, have not been implemented till date.

In February 2023, the officer moved the Tribunal for execution of the order, but nothing materialised and the matter kept getting adjourned repeatedly. The tribunal also sought an explanation from the defence secretary regarding non-compliance.

In September 2023, the department produced a provisional pension sanction order indicating conditional approval. After several other adjournments, the Tribunal was informed in April 2024 that a writ petition challenging the Tribunal’s order had been filed before the Delhi High Court.

When the matter again came up for hearing in October 2024, the department informed the Tribunal that the matter was pending before the High Court, but the Tribunal observed that in August 2024 the High Court had passed a detailed order on the Colonel’s petition.

Noting the grievance of the petitioner regarding the pending execution application for more than one-and-a-half years, the High Court observed that the Tribunal should proceed with execution proceedings as per law. It was further noted that a conditional sanction to implement the Tribunal’s decision had already been issued by the competent authority in August.2023, but the order was not implemented.

“Despite repeated adjournments and the respondent’s attempts to delay the proceedings, there is no satisfactory explanation provided for the non-compliance,” the Tribunal’s Bench comprising Justice Rajendra Menon and Lt Gen CP Mohantry said while pointing out that more than 6,500 execution applications pending before the Tribunal.